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Acoustic Impulse Generation by High Energy Spark Dischargers

The use of high energy electric sparks to study the impulse response of rooms and concert halls is suggested. Its advantages and disadvantages with respect to other methods of acoustic impulse generation are discussed. Several ways of generating high energy sparks are described. Various triggering circuits and electrode designs are compared and problems resulting from rectifier limitations and cable inductance are considered. The performance of several prototype is presented.